But his eyes burned feverishly and his grip on Pardos’ leg, though weak, was dogged. And his voice, when he spoke, was surprisingly firm.
“You’ll not slay him . . . my lord—not while yet I live.”
“I promised to spare your life, noble Sergios,” Pardos answered gently, “not the-life of this thing.”
Sergios coughed and a shower of pink froth sprayed from his mouth. His voice weakened perceptibly. “My
… life … pledged to__him. Cannot live in … honor … not pro … protect him.”
“Brother.” Though urgent, Pardos’ voice was infinitely tender. “Your efforts are killing you. This man-shaped thing is not worth a life, especially a life such as yours.”
“Lord Demetrios,” Sergios said, gasping, “far worse … you know. Still.. rmy lord.”
Pardos flung the dagger in the path of his sword. Spinning, he knelt and gently disengaged Sergios’ arm from his ankle.
“Noble Sergios, your courage has purchased two lives this night. Much as I want his death, the life of so rare a man as you is too high a price.”
Raising his head, the Sea Lord bellowed, “Zaileegh, Eegohr, Benahree, Kohkeenoh-Djahn, to me!”
With the aid of the four captains, Pardos had the fainting Sergios lifted and laid face-down on the hastily cleared large table. Under the directions of the red-haired Kahndees, a trio of women set about removing his gambeson, while two others bared his left arm and applied a tourniquet, and still another sponged his face with undiluted wine.
Brusquely, Pardos issued orders.
“Zaileegh, fetch me Master Gahmahl and his assistants. Tell him the nature of the injuries, that he may know what to bring, And emphasize that this man means much to me. And … just in case, you’d better bring Father Vokos, too.”
“Kohkeenoh-Djahn, collect your crew and ready your ship. You sail at dawn to convey High-Lord Demetrios back to his sty, along with any of his who wish to return. I promised I’d let him live, and live he will—but not here. Let him pollute some other realm. His ship and all she carries are mine; have it seen to. Bring his slaves to me and see how many of his ship’s crew you can recruit. Have Ngohnah talk to his bodyguard; spearmen like them are hard to find.”
“Benahree, have our fat guest stripped of the warrior’s garb his flesh profanes. Find him some women’s clothing. Then lodge Princess Perversia somewhere for the night — bearing in mind her predilection for dung, of course.”
“Eegohr, with the good Father on the way, we’d better see about getting clothing on our ladies.”
The High-Lord, clad in an old, torn shift, spent the remainder of the night in six inches of slime at the bottom of a recently abandoned cesspool. Before dawn he was dragged from his noisome prison and chivvied down to the harbor. There, with much rough horseplay, Zaileegh’s crew stripped him and hosed him down, dragged him aboard The Golden Dream, and threw him into a dank rope locker, where he was shortly joined by Captain Titos.
In addition to her three sails, Captain Zaileegh’s ship mounted two banks of long sweeps on either board and, with a crew of over one hundred fifty, made good time—in wind or calm, twenty-four hours a day. Unlike Titos’ merchant-vessel, The Golden Dream had been built for speed and ease of handling. Furthermore, both of her masts could be unstepped and laid out to lessen win resistance when she was being propelled by oar power. All of these factors contributated to the fact that she reached the coastal swamps of Kehnooryos Ehlahs in only six days.
Captain Zaileegh moored in a creek mouth until sundown. Then the ship was rowed up the wide, sluggish Blue River, reaching the all but deserted docks of Kehnooryos Ateenaha well before dawn. Their two passengers, securely bound and gagged, were dumped on the largest dock. Then the pirates beat their way back downriver.
Chapter 8
Refilling her goblet and Alexandros’, Mara nodded, “When first Milo and I came here, there were rumors that Demetrios had tried to flee by sea, but that he had met with some misfortune and returned. He only discussed the episode if he was given no choice; even then he seldom told the same stories twice. Now I can understand why. Of course, he was then unaware that he was one of us, the Undying; he has become far more courageous since then.